Month: May 2017

For those of you who follow my blog know that I am a huge fan of Redington Fly rods; mainly because of their lightness and most important their purchase price. In my opinion there isn’t a better quality fly rod for a reasonable price on the market than their classic series. I decided a few weeks ago to purchase their 2 weight Classic Trout mainly to fish some of the small streams in the SmokeyMountains.

I found out last week that it matches well with the rainbow on the Sipsey Tailrace in Alabama. I knew I would be landing trout in the 10 to 12 inch range and the 7 ½ ft. moderate action graphic rod got quite a workout that afternoon. I found this 2 weight to be a bit more forgiving than my 3 or 4 weight fly rods I fish with. I was surprised with degree of stiffness it had which helped it handled a couple 12” rainbow I landed that afternoon quite well. True I didn’t horse that size trout in quickly using it but with a bit of patience I brought both to hand. I did lose numerous trout that day mainly because of hook set and slow reaction time. Fishing a lighter fly rod could have contributed to the hook set issue. I kept forgetting I wasn’t fishing with a moderate fast action fly rod. The rod proved what I already knew when it came to placement and presentation of the fly using a 6X tippet. As most of you know the lighter the fly touches the surface film the better chance for a take; this fly rod meet that test. The slight breeze that afternoon didn’t affect my casting but I could see problems in moderate or heavy winds.

A lot of the bluegill I have caught on LauraHillLakein Lawrenceburg is smaller than what I am use to landing, so this 2 weight will compliment those well. The total weight of the Redington 2/3 reel and the Redington rod weights less than 4.6 ounces; my kind of combo for sure!!

For those of you who follow my blog know that I am a huge fan of Redington Fly rods; mainly because of their lightness and most important their purchase price. In my opinion there isn’t a better quality fly rod for a reasonable price on the market than their classic series. I decided a few weeks ago to purchase their 2 weight Classic Trout mainly to fish some of the small streams in the SmokeyMountains.

I found out last week that it matches well with the rainbow on the Sipsey Tailrace in Alabama. I knew I would be landing trout in the 10 to 12 inch range and the 7 ½ ft. moderate action graphic rod got quite a workout that afternoon. I found this 2 weight to be a bit more forgiving than my 3 or 4 weight fly rods I fish with. I was surprised with degree of stiffness it had which helped it handled a couple 12” rainbow I landed that afternoon quite well. True I didn’t horse that size trout in quickly using it but with a bit of patience I brought both to hand. I did lose numerous trout that day mainly because of hook set and slow reaction time. Fishing a lighter fly rod could have contributed to the hook set issue. I kept forgetting I wasn’t fishing with a moderate fast action fly rod. The rod proved what I already knew when it came to placement and presentation of the fly using a 6X tippet. As most of you know the lighter the fly touches the surface film the better chance for a take; this fly rod meet that test. The slight breeze that afternoon didn’t affect my casting but I could see problems in moderate or heavy winds.

A lot of the bluegill I have caught on LauraHillLakein Lawrenceburg is smaller than what I am use to landing, so this 2 weight will compliment those well. The total weight of the Redington 2/3 reel and the Redington rod weights less than 4.6 ounces; my kind of combo for sure!!

I’ve been waiting about a week to make today’s trip to the Sipsey, because my game plan was to go super light using my new 7 ½ ft. 2 weight. I purchase the fly rod mainly to fish in the Smokies, but I decided I would use it today to break it in on the Sipsey rainbow. June of last year was the last time that I wet a fly in the Sipsey since we moved to Tennessee.

Upon arrival I found one other truck, so I knew I would have the place pretty much to myself most of the afternoon. The skies were a crystal blue with a slight breeze out of the northeast most of afternoon. I entered the gorge at access six and saw no surface movement, so most of the afternoon was spent fishing nymphs. I did manage to take a few trout on top but I think the trout were annoyed with the presence of the fly as oppose to really eating the fly. The drift had to be near perfect to get a take on any pattern. I’m really glad I had numerous boulders to sit on because I did a lot of experimenting with different patterns most of the afternoon. A lot of fun takes and a lot of trout lost today.

This was the size trout today that broke the 2 weight in on its first outing. I kept wondering on the way home why I missed a lot of takes today; could be slow reflex and learning to fish the a lighter fly rod. What ever it was I enjoyed the afternoon on one of my favorite tailraces.

Special!!

I’ve been waiting about a week to make today’s trip to the Sipsey, because my game plan was to go super light using my new 7 ½ ft. 2 weight. I purchase the fly rod mainly to fish in the Smokies, but I decided I would use it today to break it in on the Sipsey rainbow. June of last year was the last time that I wet a fly in the Sipsey since we moved to Tennessee.

Upon arrival I found one other truck, so I knew I would have the place pretty much to myself most of the afternoon. The skies were a crystal blue with a slight breeze out of the northeast most of afternoon. I entered the gorge at access six and saw no surface movement, so most of the afternoon was spent fishing nymphs. I did manage to take a few trout on top but I think the trout were annoyed with the presence of the fly as oppose to really eating the fly. The drift had to be near perfect to get a take on any pattern. I’m really glad I had numerous boulders to sit on because I did a lot of experimenting with different patterns most of the afternoon. A lot of fun takes and a lot of trout lost today.

This was the size trout today that broke the 2 weight in on its first outing. I kept wondering on the way home why I missed a lot of takes today; could be slow reflex and learning to fish the a lighter fly rod. What ever it was I enjoyed the afternoon on one of my favorite tailraces.